Switzerland, Austria and to a lesser extent Germany have announced the lifting of health restrictions. In these three countries, the abandonment of these measures is seen as a real “return to freedom”.
“Liberty”, “Freedom”, “Freedom”… Since the announcements on the lifting of health restrictions, the Swiss, Austrian and German press have only had this word in their mouths. There are “like an air of freedom in Switzerland”, reports The Geneva Courier. He adds :
Almost two years after a first positive Covid case in the country, the Federal Council has abolished [ce jeudi 17 février] almost all pandemic control measures.”
This “Freedom Day”, as the German speakers call it, delighted a large part of the media. Some newspapers, such as the Zurich daily daily scoreboard, even began to imagine “Crowds of people rushing through the streets as if there was a parade” to celebrate the news. “It’s finally here, the mega-loosening we’ve been waiting for.”
Others, such as the Geneva newspaper The weather, enumerated with enthusiasm the new authorizations which sign the return to normal in the Swiss Confederation. “No more presenting a QR code and an identity card at the entrance to a restaurant; repealed, wearing a mask in a store or at the cinema; ended, restrictions on private meetings”, list the title. On Switzerland, “it’s raining freedom”.
Caution in Germany
In neighboring German-speaking countries, the weather seems similar. In Germany, a three-step easing plan must be in place by March 20. In Austria, the government has also announced that most health measures will be lifted from March 5, with an obligation to vaccinate against Covid-19 maintained.
What makes the tabloids of the two countries to rejoice: “Germany is lightening [les mesures sanitaires] : we are finally going to have our ‘Freedom Day’”, assures the Berlin newspaper Image. “Finally Freedom” raises the Austrian title
[…]
Marie Daoudal